Quick-thinking Controllers Averted Disaster At O'hare

November 30, 1993|By Gary Washburn, Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Within a span of only four seconds, controllers at O'Hare International Airport received a warning that an approaching Continental Airlines jet was about to set down with its wheels retracted and radioed an urgent order to abort the landing, according to a tape recording of the dramatic interchange.

''Go around, go around Continental! No gear! No gear!'' a controller shouted into his microphone in what one federal official said was a ''perfect example of doing the right thing at the right time.''

The pilot of the Continental Boeing 727 came within about 6 inches of Runway 27-Left before power to the plane's three engines surged, investigators believe. The tail section scraped the concrete as the nose of the craft lifted up.

The jet, with 88 people aboard, then circled around and came in for a safe landing.

The Nov. 15 incident remains under investigation, but the tape, released by the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday, provides a glimpse into the quick and intense effort to warn the crew of Continental Flight 5148 of what could have been a disaster.

An American Airlines pilot was heading east on a neighboring taxiway when the Continental jet came into view on final approach from the opposite direction, said Terry Arneson, an FAA regional staff specialist.

The American pilot, heard on the tape, radioed the controller on his frequency, saying, ''Tower, Continental's got no gear!''

The controller, later identified as Jeff Molsen, responded: ''Who's got no gear?''

''Continental just about ready to touch down on Two-Seven-Left,'' came the reply.

Molsen then shouted across the control tower to Mike Sabutis, who was handling the Continental jet, and Sabutis issued the emergency order to ''go around.''

Seconds later, a cheer in the tower was audible in the background, and three other pilots, all of whom presumably heard the drama unfold on their radios, transmitted their congratulations.

''Great save, O'Hare,'' one said.

''Great save, guys,'' said another.

''Thanks a lot, tower,'' the third declared. ''Nice job.''

Then Molsen asked for the identity of the American plane.

''All right, who's the hero that told us that?''

''American 1671 Heavy,'' came the response from the pilot, whose name has not been released.